{"id":10278,"date":"2022-11-02T20:18:51","date_gmt":"2022-11-02T20:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=10278"},"modified":"2022-11-02T20:18:51","modified_gmt":"2022-11-02T20:18:51","slug":"hit-the-road-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/hit-the-road-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Hit The Road \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Have you been visiting with your friends or family and want to infer that you are ready to go home? Maybe you are out late and want to wrap things up for the night. If so, the phrase hit the road is a great way to get your point across while remaining polite. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The phrase hit the road means quite simply, to leave. It can also mean getting your journey on the way, or to start your trip. It has also been used to ask people to leave, albeit in a less-than-polite manner. The phrase can also be used to explain that you are ready to depart or to go home.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Hitting the road is quite literally, getting on the road to go from point A to point B. It can refer to leaving from home to travel to another location or event. It can also mean that you are ready to leave your current outing and make your way back to your house.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI think it is time for me to hit the road, it\u2019s pretty late and it is scheduled to rain today\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis has been a great party, but I think it\u2019s time to hit the road before rush hour traffic starts\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOnce the slow songs start playing on repeat you know it is time to hit the road before you end up with a stranger on the dance floor\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhy does Uncle Bert always say that he wants us to hit the road right before dinner time?<\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The phrase \u2018hit the road\u201d is an informal way of saying it is time to go home or to leave. The phrase comes from the sound of horses' hooves striking the ground. The phrase can be found in print as early as the 1870s. W. F. Butler wrote a book titled Wild North Land in which he wrote that the adventures were \u201chitting the trail\u201d. The term was not credited to any one person, but it was well known that hitting the road or hitting the trail signified leaving.<\/p>\n<p>Over the years, the phrase has been used in all circles when noting that it was time to go. In modern times, the phrase hit the road still applies even though people went from riding in houses to riding in cars. In the 1960s, famed singer Ray Charles sang a song in which the main protagonist was told to hit the road and don\u2019t come back. The meaning of the phrase has remained the same regardless of the common modes of transportation changing.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Meaning of HIT THE ROAD- A Really Short English Lesson with Subtitles\" width=\"512\" height=\"384\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JBoCZLB4c7c?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to Hit The Road<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Head on out<\/li>\n<li>Make tracks<\/li>\n<li>Depart<\/li>\n<li>Make like a tree<\/li>\n<li>Go home<\/li>\n<li>Get out of here<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to Hit The Road<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Put down roots<\/li>\n<li>Stay for a while<\/li>\n<li>Hang out<\/li>\n<li>Lounge around<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>The proper way to say the phrase is - hit the road.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Incorrectly Say Hit The Road<\/h2>\n<p>Some ways that hit the road is used incorrectly are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The best way to get the dust out of the saddle is to hit the road.<\/li>\n<li>Trying hitting the road to see how many snakes come rustling out of the bushes.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase Hit The Road<\/h2>\n<p>Some ways that hit the road is used correctly are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is nothing better than getting a plate of holiday food to go before you hit the road.<\/li>\n<li>After a nice dinner with the family, it is best to hit the road before things start to turn sour.<\/li>\n<li>Spending a lot of time with your friends is nice, but there does come a time when you should hit the road before overstaying your welcome.<\/li>\n<li>My grandma is always telling us it\u2019s time to hit the road when her sisters start bringing up drama from the past.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Have you been visiting with your friends or family and want to infer that you are ready to go home? Maybe you are out late and want to wrap things up for the night. If so, the phrase hit the road is a great way to get your point across while remaining polite. This post [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10278"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10278"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10278\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10280,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10278\/revisions\/10280"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10278"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10278"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10278"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}